The start of the 2020s marked a dramatically tough time for Broadway. With COVID-related shutdowns triggering sudden drops in theater attendance, numerous fan-favorite NYC shows had to sadly shudder their doors, including such established productions as Beetlejuice, Mean Girls , and the Majestic Theatre’s world-renowned musical, The Phantom of the Opera.
But as New York’s premiere theater district continues its successful return, theatergoers might be interested in learning that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated gothic musical will officially return to NYC this coming summer — albeit in a drastically altered form.
Originally produced in London’s West End in 1986 before making its way to Broadway two years later, The Phantom of the Opera maintained its residency in New York for an unprecedented 35 years. In the three and a half decades that followed its Broadway debut, the show played at the Majestic Theatre for a total of 13,981 performances, making it the longest-running show in Broadway’s history, surpassing 1996’s Chicago revival by nearly 3,000 performances…